I just saw Knight and Day and in a summer notably lacking in quality, this one stands out as being the worst film in terms of the script and editing. The 2 and a half minute trailer was better than the entire film. In the film a rogue FBI agent, Roy Millerand the FBi, steals a never-ending battery that looks like the generic D Energizer kind. June, a hapless bystander, gets caught up in the action. Together they must keep the battery safe while on the run from arms dealers and the FBI.
In editing class you’re taught that if a movie is well edited then you won’t question the loopholes until hours later when you’re at home, hence the term refrigerator moment. Quite apropos when you consider Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. In Knight and Day, however, I started questioning the flick while it was still playing.
For starters, whenever characters would mention anything of importance, it was never once brought up again or answered in any kind of way. None of the characters had any semblance of a back story. There was no time limit set for the mission, no sense of urgency, and no one saved anything, much less the world. In essence the film lacked discernible goals. This film brings new meaning to the term, “We’ll fix it in post”.
What follows is a list of questions. I would say there are spoilers, but since there are absolutely zero twists, turns, or creativity in the script, there are no spoilers. Anyone who can answer these questions solely based on the film will receive a highly valued, Flickcast Certified No. Prize. Go ahead smarty pants, make my day.
1. What is June’s job?
2. When did Roy Miller find time to buy June a whole new wardrobe that fits her to a T while jet-setting around the globe?
3. Why did June refer to Matthew Knight as Roy Miller after learning his real name?
4. Why didn’t June ever bring up that she met Roy Miller’s parents?
5. Why did it say “Motion Activated” on Roy Miller’s phone but every time he took a look at his GPS tracer it was in the same location?
6. If Roy Miller was so heavily wanted and the headline of TV News, how did he cross international borders so easily while carrying an unconscious woman who people think is his hostage?
7. Who was Naomi, the woman Roy Miller talked about selling the never-ending battery to in the café?
8. Why was Naomi never brought up again?
9. What was the teenage prodigy’s back story, or for that matter, Roy’s and June’s?
10. How come the FBI and some arms dealers were the only people after the never-ending battery?
11. What were the arms dealers going to do with the battery… power a planet-destroying laser?
12. Why weren’t any major corporations, power companies, green environmentalists, and/or Captain Planet and the Planeteers after the never-ending battery?
13. Why was the explosion at the end so small when the battery had enough power for an entire city?
14. Why did the FBI take back Roy Miller as an agent after he killed dozens of their agents?
15. How was one assassin able to still fight like a lion after being stabbed in the heart when other bad guys were killed instantly by any wound inflicted on them from either Roy or June?
Compared to Knight and Day, A-Team is Oscar-worthy. The film would have made much more sense if instead of a never-ending battery, it was a teleportation device. At least that would explain how they were able to travel without passing customs and at the speed of light.
In rewriting the story, I would have Roy Miller initially perceived as a bad guy. He steals the battery from the FBI and attempts to sell it to the highest bidder. June would appear hapless but really be an undercover agent in disguise. Roy spills his secret that he’s really selling the battery in order to use the money to secure the teenage inventor’s freedom. June then reveals herself to be an agent and goes rogue herself. In the end the battery could be sold to a corporation who gives it away as free energy. The last scene of the film would take place at June’s sister’s wedding where Roy and June would escape the FBI in her fully restored GTO.
The only reason anyone should view this film is if they’re critically reviewing it for an editing class on what not to do. Anyone even thinking of paying money to see this should instead watch the trailer 3 times and rent a copy of The Saint, which has the same premise, only well executed.
Here’s hoping you had more luck than I did in discerning the answers from this film. I will be astonished if anyone is able to make rhyme or reason of the film. Good luck, the No. Prize’s are waiting for you!
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Mark Anthony Lopez
December 8, 2010 at 4:08 amAs soon as I was done watching this movie, I looked over to my wife and asked if she had ever seen the much better film, SAINT. She said no. Tomorrow she’s getting a lesson on proper editing. Cool blog.
Diane Panosian
July 11, 2010 at 2:16 amAnd the first Flickcast Certified No. Prize goes to……drum roll please….JOSEPH!!!!! Congrats. Even though you didn't answer any questions directly, pointing out Cruise as nut-job crazy guy and the story's ridiculous leaps of logic = an answer with humor and sensibility. Walk around with the pride and the knowledge that you are a true Knight.
Diane Panosian
July 11, 2010 at 2:13 amDude, I'm not that old! And you are now minus one very lovely No. Prize.
thedudeabides
July 8, 2010 at 7:46 pmOMG This Movie is totally “The Saint”, I'm glad someone else is old enough to remember that movie.
lazuline
July 8, 2010 at 7:45 pmCounter Argument: Mission Impossible I and III
Counter Counter Argument: Mission Impossible II
thedudeabides
July 8, 2010 at 12:46 pmOMG This Movie is totally “The Saint”, I'm glad someone else is old enough to remember that movie.
lazuline
July 8, 2010 at 12:45 pmCounter Argument: Mission Impossible I and III
Counter Counter Argument: Mission Impossible II
Joseph
July 7, 2010 at 4:39 pmOy. I'm not going to try and argue that this is a good movie (because it's not), but it was entertaining (primarily the first half when Cruise was still acting as an over-the-top, nut-job crazy guy and also because of some of the ridiculous leaps of logic the film took) , and I think that's in part because I had the bar properly set rather low. You, on the other hand, seem to have gone into the theater with a level-headed, optimistic outlook, and that tends to be a bad idea when seeing Tom Cruise fare. 😛
Diane Panosian
July 7, 2010 at 3:34 pmHa, I admire your passion. You are now in consideration for a newly minted No. Prize, however some of your answers don't match the questions.
1. What's is June's job, not Roy Miller's.
2. I asked where he found the time to buy a new wardrobe, not if people would bother him.
3. If in the film there's an important scene where June learns his real name, why would she not bring it up after- its as if anything regarding Roy's parents was added to the film in a re-shoot without Tom Cruise.
4. See above, the detail may not ruin the film, but it certainly makes the scene about Roy's parents stick out like a sore thumb and irrelevant.
5. It may have showed that the parents were at a different location once, or it may have been in their own garage. Either way each time Motion Activated was shown a picture of the house was shown.
6. We don't know how Roy Miller achieved transportation because those scenes were probably cut for budget and by hack writers who think showing a woman coming in and out of a drugged state over and over again is hilarious.
7/8. If a new character is introduced for a plot point and then never brought up again it's bad screenwriting to assume the audience will just forget about her.
9. Points for Roy's backstory, although he's not CIA, he's FBI. June needs a backstory if she's a main character of the film!!! The teen prodigy is one of the few interesting characters of the film and he's a after-thought. He needs a more complex backstory as well, see NBC's Chuck.
10. Perhaps true, but if some indie arms dealers knew about it, it's safe to say some corporations with billions of dollars to spend might happen on the info as well.
11. A never-ending battery is very important to the film since during the entire film everyone is after it. The possibilities for it are extremely interesting, especially when we live in a time when Green energy is everything.
12. Points that maybe they didn't know about the battery, but are you saying you know everything that corporations with billions of dollars at stake don't use some shady tactics to gain power (rent Chinatown)? Think again.
13. Your answer is vague and it purports you are an expert on perpetual energy without supplying any evidence. –You learn more about perpetual energy and report back if you want points.
14. Yeah you're right, it's totally cool to kill a bunch of FBI agents who were just following orders. Nah, he's not a loose cannon at all, no biggie.
15. Albeit it 's a movie, but if you show a bunch of guys dying instantly from similar inflictions and then one not, it's again hack writing. And I didn't know you were a surgeon and an expert on perpetual energy. Is your real name Dr. McDreamy or perhaps Tony Stark?
Points Awarded: 3 (for answers 6, 10, and 15)
Negative Points: 3 (for answers 1, 2 and 11)
Total Points: 0
(PS) I will bring up any movies I want in my articles, for the sake of humor, and also for the sake of saving you time and money. As Bobby Brown likes to say – it's my prerogative.
(PPS) If you actually thought this was an excellent example of screenwriting then you are exactly the audience movie studios crave. You might also like The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, and Catwoman. Oops, I just mentioned more movies. Silly me.
On second thought – NO No. Prize for you!
All others who care to apply must read the questions first before answering! The answers must also come solely from the film or at the very least be funny and mildly sarcastic.
S.s.
July 6, 2010 at 9:26 pm1. He use to work with the FBI with another agent who then set him up as he rescued Steven.
2. There are stores in south america with people that don't give a fuck who you are.
3. She was going to tell him later. i mean she was drugged for god's sake and at the beach they barely had time to talk before the film ended. It happened after.
4. She didn't say so until after. That detail doesn't ruin he movie.
5. Check the movie again. it shows where they went. like when june checked, it showed his dad working on a car.
6. He's good at what he does…Thats the point of the story. I mean he didn't fly on a public plane…
7. she was a distraction so the restaurant people don't think their dealing. She wore this headset on one ear that was the actual person talking. She was whispering the translation acting as if they were a cute couple talking normally.
8. Because she wasn't needed. she was just and actress passing on the words of the spanish guy.
9. They explain it throughout the whole film. Roy was a boy-scout who later worked for the CIA who was then set up by his partner who wanted Steven's battery to sell through the black market so he stole steven and was then seen as a bad guy when he was really saving Steven. June didn't need a back story. Regular girl who was going to her sister's wedding who had a boyfriend in the fire department but they broke up. The teen Steven was a very smart guy who dropped out of high school who created a battery and was then caught up in the movie.
10. Because they were the only ones who knew about the battery.
11. No just use it for their power supply and other things. Its not important anyways.
12. Because they didn't know about the battery. Plus power companies and others don't have assassins.. FBI doesn't tell everyone about their investigations.
13. learn more about perpetual energy…
14. Because he practically saved the kid and everyone. The FBI saw that they believed the wrong guy. He didn't deserve it because he was surviving.
15. 1st theory. It's a fucking movie… 2nd theory. He wasn't stabbed stabbed in the heart, it was above the right lung near the esophagus. He stood the pain and lasted some more minutes fighting.
(PS) Don't bring in other movies into the review of 1 movie. It's unprofessional.